Apparatus for mounting sliding doors



Dec. 27, 1966 L. M. HENNING 3,293,801

APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING SLIDING DOORS Filed Jan. 20, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I F764 2. 9 24 26 2 m H 1 8 /g L9 1 828 C/ /6 U l L? 5 H3 2/ 11 E [L 1s L3] L3,

73 59 5/ F isplg 32 I [N l ENTOR.

BY L A WRE NC E M. HE NN/NG A T TORNE Y Dec. 27, 1966 1.. M. HENNING APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING SLIDING DOORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 20, 1964 m y w W W m j W l W? /%%%////$///////%fi///&fi///////////// m v w a 5 B y m w w m w I 6 k. L w /M// M f W M m MC United States Patent 3 293 801 APPARATUS FOR Momi'rmo SLIDING DOORS Lawrence M. Henning, 10051 Turner Ave.,

Ontario, Calif. 91761 Filed Jan. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 338,817 1 Claim. (Cl. 49-130) The invention relates to apparatus for mounting sliding doors, and more particularly to such apparatus for doors that bypass one another to open.

Sliding doors in cabinets and entryways are old in the art. Many suspension and guiding systems have been devised in the past to promote easy movement and precise closure of movable doors. However, most of the devices conventionally in use require a separate track for each door of the closure. I have invented mounting means for sliding doors that requires a single rail for two sliding doors and by means of which either of the doors may be moved to open one-half of the access way and bypass the stationary door.

The invention contemplates mounting apparatus for sliding doors that comprises an upper track and a lower track, and a door carriage for each of the sliding doors that is movable along the tracks. Preferably, the upper and lower tracks are parallel, and each may be fixed to the frame of the doorway opening. Each door carriage extends along the tracks approximately one-half the width of the door. First connecting means link the top of the door to the carriage and second connecting means link the bottom of the door to the carriage. The top and bottom connecting means are so articulated that the con nected door is suspended or supported from the carriage at either a closed position near the tracks or at an opening position horizontally displaced from the tracks.

Preferably, the connecting means on each door comprises a link hingedly fastened to the carriage at one end and to the inner face of the door at the other. The hinge points are such that when the door is displaced toward the tracks in closed position the downward thrust of the door weight tends to keep the door closed.

In operation, a pull knob on the exterior of the door is pulled outwardly from the tracks, displacing the door from the carriage sufiiciently to enable the door to move horizontally exteriorly of the static second door which closes the access way. Obviously, the position of the connecting means with respect to the carriage and the vertical door edge is important, since this positioning determines the extent to which one door may overlap the other. The connecting means therefore are preferably narrow in the direction the tracks extend.

The mounting apparatus of the invention is, therefore, not limited as to doorway sizes. One-half of a door opening is completely unobstructed when one of a pair of doors mounted in accordance with the invention is moved to its limit. While the mounting apparatus of the invention is best utilized for the doors of doorways wherein two passing doors are used, the invention has limited use for doorways closed by a single door. Where the door is extremely light, this latter use prvides an unobstructed passageway in the doorway equal to about three-quarters or more of the doorway opening.

These and other advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description and drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a storage cabinet having doors mounted in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates in a front elevation the cabinet of FIG. 1 with one of the doors partly opened;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation, partly broken away, and showing the full open position of the doors; 7

3,293,801 Patented Dec. 27, 1966 FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 55 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation similar to FIG. 5 and showing an alternate embodiment of the invention.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5, a storage cabinet 9 has a doorway 10 defined by a front framing member 11, a lower framing member 12, and side framing members 13. The cabinet is supported upon legs 14. The doorway is closed by two similar doors 18, 19. When in the closed position of FIG. 1, doors 18 and 19 are coplanar.

Each door has an exterior handle 21, 22. The handles are preferably near a vertical door edge 24 adjacent the side framing members 13. As shown in FIG. 2, when exterior handle 22 of door 19 is pulled outwardly, door 19 is displaced and supported away from the upper and lower tracks 26, 27, respectively, and may be moved past door 18 leftwardly, as shown by an arrow 28 in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 3 door 19 is shown fragmentarily. The door is positioned at its extreme leftward displacement. The leftward displacement leaves open the interval A between edge 24 of the door and the inner surface of framing member 13. Interval A approximates one-half of the doorway horizontal width.

Door 19 is supported by an upper carriage 31 and a lower carriage 32. Upper carriage 31 has a pair of grooved rollers 34, 35 that roll along track 26. The rollers are rotatably mounted to a horizontal carriage arm 38 that extends horizontally from a vertical connector 39. Lower carriage 32 has a similar grooved roller pair 41, 42 that ride on track 27.

Door 18 is shown fragmentarily in FIG. 3. It is supported by an upper carriage 45 and a lower carriage 46. Upper carriage 45 has two grooved rollers 48, 49 that roll along track 26. Similar grooved rollers 51, 52 of carriage 46 ride on track 27.

Upper carriage 45 has a horizontal carriage arm 54. The mount extends inboard of the track 26. A vertical connector 55 extends downwardly from arm 54. The vertical connector overlaps a similar vertical lower connector 58 extending upwardly from a lower carriage arm 59 of lower carriage 46. Each vertical connector has an elongate slot such as the slot 61 in connector 58. Binding means, such as fasteners 62, extend through the slots and lock the two vertical members of the carriages together in adjustable fashion. By loosening the fasteners the relative vertical space between upper and lower carriages can be adjusted. Thus the same carriage pair can be used with doors of different heights.

Upper carriage 45 has a pin boss 64 fixed to its outboard surface below roller 49. A pivot pin 65 extends from the boss toward frame member 13 of the doorway frame. A link 66 is fixed to the pivot pin at its lower end. A second pin 67, parallel to pivot pin 65, extends from the link through a loop 68 of a hingle leaf 69. The hinge leaf is fixed by suitable means such as screws 71 to the inside of door 18.

A boss 73 extending outboard from vertical connector 58 of carriage 46 supports a pivot pin 74, a link 75, a second pin 76, and a hinge leaf 77, all of which elements are like those described with respect to carriage 45. Hinge leaf 77 is secured to the inside face of door 18. Similar linkage assemblies 79, 81 support door 19 from its upper and lower carriages 31, 32.

Turning now to FIG. 5, static door 18 is shown in the same position it occupies in FIG. 3. Door 19 is again in open position cantilevered by linkage assemblies 79 and 81 from the vertical connectors of carriages 31, 32. The

0 respective links 66A, A of carriages 31 and 32 extend almost horizontally from their respective pivot bosses 64A, 73A. Such extension displaces door 19 outwardly away from tracks 26, 27 such that an interval indicated by the dimension C exists between the inner face of door 19 and the outer face of door 18. When door 19 is thrust leftwardly in FIG. 3, door 19 passes outside of door 18 limited in its leftward movement only by eventual contact between the links 66A, 75A and an edge 85 of door 18.

When a door is in static, or closed, position, the links of the linkage assemblies occupy the position shown in FIG. 3 by links 66 and 75 and the dotted lines 66B, 75B of FIG. 5. The substantially vertical orientation of the links extending directly above their respective pivot pins tends to keep the door in closed position, since there is no outward resultant from the weight of the door. The door may be additionally secured by a latch 87 engaging a pin 88in framing member 13.

Obviously, in most situations, there will be one static and one moving door. With the apparatus of the invention either door may have either status. When door 19 is closed, door 18 may be pulled outwardly and the carriages 45, 46 rolled along the tracks to displace door 18 rightwardly, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, to create an open ing at the left portion of doorway 10.

The grooved rollers guide along the track, and are engaged thereon sufficiently to prevent inward or outward displacement of the rollers and the carriage with respect to the tracks. Therefore, the only transverse motion of the door with respect to the opening is that made possible by the support linkage.

The span between rollers on a carriage arm should be as close as possible to one-half the width of the door. With doors of conventional weight this span is suflicient for stability. The carriage arm thus need only equal one half the door width in horizontal extent, and the two carriages of the two doors on a track occupy only one half of the track length.

FIG. 6 shows in vertical section an alternate embodiment of the invention wherein upper and lower carriages 91, 92, respectively, support a door 93. The door is displaced outwardly from tracks 26, 27 of a doorway 10 sufficiently to pass a temporarily static door 94. The carriages are substantially identical to those described with respect to the previous embodiment. However, in place of the pivot boss, link and hinge leaf of the previously described embodiment, the embodiment of FIG. 6 employs a support collar 95 on each vertical connector of a carriage. Each support collar extends through the connector transversely to the run of the track. A pin 97 is slidably engaged within the support collar. An enlarged end 98 on the inboard end of each pin limits outward extent of the pin. The outer end of the pin is secured to the door. The door may have a latch 101 and an exterior handle 102.

The embodiment of FIG. 6 is operated by pulling the first door 93 to be moved outwardly from the tracks.

The pins slide within the support collars and the door is supported away from the framed opening a sufficient distance to clear the outer face of the static door. The moving door is then thrust longitudinally along the tracks. Longitudinal motion is limited by contact between the pins 97 and the inner edge 103 Of the S atic door,

The second door 94 is similarly mounted and may be moved in the fashion described when first door 93 is returned to static position.

The invention permits sliding doors in a single frame to be flush or coplanar when closed and yet be displaced so that one-half of the doorway may be open at either side of the doorway, as desired. The apparatus of the invention is easily adapted to various doors and doorways and may be combined with conventionally framed doorways. Many variations will occur to those skilled in the art, within the'scope of invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments but is rather defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

Mounting apparatus for a first and a second sliding door movable within a framed opening and comprising a first track fixed at the bottom of the framed opening, a second track fixed at the top of the framed opening and extending parallel to the first track, a first upper wheeled carriage adapted to move longitudinally on the upper track, a first lower wheeled carriage adapted to move longitudinally on the lower track, each of said second carriages extending along the tracks approximately one-half the Width of a door, vertical means connecting the first upper and the first lower carriages, first support means extending between the first sliding door and the first wheeled carriages, said support means being adapted selectively to displace the first sliding door outwardly from the wheeled carriages and the framed opening so as to pass the second sliding door when the second door is in static position within the framed opening, a second upper wheeled carriage adapted to move longitudinally on the upper track, a second lower wheeled carriage adapted to move longitudinally on the lower track, each of said second carriages extending along the tracks approximately one-half the width of a door, vertical means connecting the second upper and lower carriages, and second support means extending between the second sliding door and the second upper and lower carriages, said second support means being adapted selectively to displace the second sliding door outwardly beyond the first sliding door when the first sliding door is in static position within the framed opening the first and second carriage pairs being linked by the support means to their respective doors so as to be positioned at the remote ends of the doors whereby the carriages of the one door do not meet the carriages of the other door when one door passes another.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 259,716 6/ 1882 Prescott 20-19 1,092,617 4/ 1914 Wiley 20-23 X 1,300,475 4/ 1919 OConnor 20-23 2,680,268 6/1954 Rutherford 2019 2,764,784 10/ 1956 McCall 20-19 2,774,998 12/ 6 Kiekert 20-24 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

K, DOWNEY, Assistant Examiner, 

